


Partners: Through Good and Through Bad

by TheGoldenAge



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: All of the police knowledge I apply in this is from B99, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Police, Alternate Universe - Police & Yakuza, Blood, F/M, I had to write this because I saw one too many bokuaka tik tok comic scenes, M/M, Police AU, Rape/Non-con Elements, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Violent, haikyuu au, listen she's an amateur writer don't expect much, no beta reader we write like men...full of misplaced confidence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:47:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27728327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGoldenAge/pseuds/TheGoldenAge
Summary: Officer Keiji Akashi is a Police officer who was sent on a three-year undercover mission to infiltrate a prostitution ring. He had everything finalized, three years of work was finally going to come to fruition. However, his plan is ruined by one, over-eager Newby, Officer Bokuto Koutarou who saw that a girl was being tugged unwillingly into a strip club."Officer Bokuto." Akaashi nodded, acknowledging his presence as he took a drag, "How do you think tonight went?"Bokuto hung his head, "Um... I suppose not well because, because you know-" he didn't know how to finish that sentence."you ruined my three-year mission" Akaashi supplied"Yeah, that."  They stood in a moment of silence."You did good today Bokuto. I don't know many people who would enter a strip club in this area to make sure a girl is safe." Akaashi pushed off the wall, and dropped his cigarette in the outdoor ashtray, and turned around. The sight of the raven-haired man backlit by the police siren light stilled Bokuto's breath. Akaashi's eyes seemed to see everything, scanning him up and down as if he was hoping to find something he hadn't seen before. "See you around, Partner."This fic is currently paused
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I just want to say that this first scene happens at a Strip Club. Having no personal experience of being a stripper or what goes on behind the scenes at a Strip Club, know that this scenario and depiction of sex-work is one which I have made up, and is not grounded in any grasp of reality. So, to the lovely people who are in the sex-industry, I apologize for this unrealistic depiction of what goes on in this chapter/fan fic. To my readers, know that this is an over-exaggerated scenario that I have made up in order to create an interesting, drama-filled story (though I do not think that all of the horrible things which happen in this fan fic need to happen in your life to make it interesting) and treat sex-workers with respect. 
> 
> Also don't know how many of you guys read the warnings, so I want to give a trigger warning here just in case. This chapter covers the topic of violence, rape, and non-consensual kink sex (no shame to kink, in fact go for it, just make sure you have proper communication with your partner)

“Hands up where I can see them” 

The harsh beam of a flashlight blinded Akaashi temporarily. His vision, which was used to the dim haze of the private room he spent most of his time in, blurred as he blinked rapidly to adjust to the bright light being shone in his face. The light moved down, exposing his scantily clad body, and the light flickered as if the holder fumbled with the flashlight before quickly scanning around the rest of the room.

He heard radio static and someone spoke in a shaky voice, “Finished sweeping the last room, we have male victim in the backroom. The rest of the room is clear. The rest of the strippers are in the changing room. Owl out” The walkie-talkie beep signaling the user was done speaking. 

“BOKUTO! THE BACK ROOM! I SAID TO NOT ENTER THAT CLUB, AND TO SPECIFICALLY NOT TOUCH THE BACK-“ Akaashi’s eyes had adapted enough to see that the man had turned off his walk-talkie. The man, Bokuto, Akaashi presumed looked over at him gingerly and shrugged off his windbreaker. 

“Umm... here,” he said scratching his face, holding out his police-issued windbreaker, eyes flickering over Akaashi's form before nervously darting away. “You’re safe now... um, I’m with the police. Actually, I am a police officer, I'm pretty new to the job, but my partner should be arriving soon. My name is Kotaro Bokuto, can I get anything for you?” Akaashi gave the man a look over. His badge was pinned too high to be centered on his left lapel as if he stretched the fabric down to pin the badge on himself, and when he let go of the fabric, it had settled too high on his chest. The sleeves of his button-down were rolled up, exposing tendrils of ink which peeped out from under the shirt cuff by his elbow. He had a zip-up hoodie tied around his waist. 

"That looks warmer than the windbreaker." Akaashi thought to himself as he drew the windbreaker around him, and assessed the situation. He wanted to scream but instead, he smiled and looked up at the man in front of him, flashing a small grim. “Could you grab me some water, please? There should be some in the changing room which is the next to this room." Akaashi gestured towards the door. "My legs just seem to be a little shaky,” he said sounding sheepish and apologetic.

Bokuto nodded eagerly and exited the room, happy to be of use. Yes, he was definitely new to the job, he was still so upbeat and optimistic about this job. He dropped his head into his hands and let out a loud, frustrated, “FUCK!” 

When Bokuto entered the room again, he found the very attractive stripper pacing around the room. Bokuto hadn’t noticed this before, but the man walked like a panther. All well-toned muscles and long ligaments. Bokuto could not help but notice how his police academy issued windbreaker just brushed the curve of the man's body just where the leg met the ass. 

Bokuto coughed, breaking the man’s prowl, “Here is your water.” he said extending the bottle out, “Can I get you anything else. Do you need a blanket or something? My partner will be here in a few minutes and then we can take your statement." 

The man paused, “And who is your partner?” he asked. Bokuto was surprised. Did this stripper now someone in the police force? “I’m temporarily paired with Officer Kuroo. My partner is scheduled to finish his undercover job soon, so I'll be paired up with him officially once he is done with everything. I am really excited for him to come in and teach me the ins and outs of the job. The police academy can only teach so much and-”. Bokuto was rambling at this point, but at the name of Officer Kuroo, the dark-haired gentleman’s eye’s sharpened. Bokuto’s ramble came to tapering silence as the sound of heavy boots came thundering around the corner, and Bokuto's hand automatically went to his holster in an almost reflexive move. Akaashi shrugged out of the windbreaker, exposing more of his oiled skin, and moved into the center of the room, watching the door. Bokuto had to make the conscious decision to look away after he caught himself appreciate the man’s delicate features.

“Akasshi,” Kuroo ran into the room and fell to his knees in front of the scantily clad man. “Please please please don’t tell Kenma about this!” Bokuto blinked at the sight of his temporary partner on his knees in front of this man. Did they know each other? Bokuto and Kuroo had gotten to know each other pretty well during their couple of weeks of being partnered together. They made sure to make each day seem fun, after all sometimes the paperwork could be rather tedious. Most of yesterday’s paperwork had been turned into paper airplanes during their "how far can your paper airplane go" contest, which was only spoiled when Captain Kenma had turned on a fan and blew all of their planes out of the air on their third trial. Bokuto had won the contest, but only because both he and Kuroo had agreed that Lutienent Suga's attempt did not count because blowing your paper plane around with a leaf blower was definitely cheating.

Akaashi sighed running his hand through his hair, “I’ll have to tell Kenma. Tonight was the night where we were going to rid ourselves of this mess. This is a huge setback. I'm compromised. There is no way he would trust me now.” 

Kuroo clung to Akasshi’s legs, “Is there really nothing I can do for you.” Akasshi cast a glance down toward Kuroo and brought his hand up to sweep Kuroo's bangs out of his eyes revealing the scar that stretched from his ear to his hairline just skimming his eyes. Akaashi delicately traced the scar, “I'm sure you want him locked away as much as I do, but this is on you. Having fun and fooling around on duty with your partner is one thing, but not being aware of your surroundings as you are patroling in is dangerous. Especially in this neighborhood. I know that you have enough knowledge of this case to know that you've made a grave mistake. This greeny is your responsibility, and if he is the one who decided to do a strip club bust, that's on you Kuroo. Your partner, your responsibility. You screwed up. Why would I leave that out my report.” Akaashi leans in, hand cupping Kuroo’s chin. “It was going to be over _**tonight**_ ”. his nails press crescents into Kuroo’s chin, and Akaashi pushes him off his legs and strolls out of the room. Kuroo collects himself brushing himself off. He throws a glance at Bokuto, and then hangs his head in shame, “Sorry you had to see that partner. Well, I guess that is ex-partner now.” Bokuto was staring out the door after the elusive man who had just walked out. “Wh-Who-Who was that?” He manages to chock out. Kuroo glances back at Bokuto taking in the look on his face, and chuckles. 

“That is Keiji Akaashi. He’s your partner."

When Akaashi entered the changing room, he grabbed his silk robe off the row of hangers. All he really wanted to do was to take a shower to get all the damn oil off his body, and maybe wallow about what a waste the past three years have been. However, he knew better than to do that. He needed to make sure that everyone else was okay first. He did a headcount of the rest of the strippers there. He was two short, but everyone else seemed to be doing okay. He maneuvered his way to the locker next to the corridor leading to the stage entrance and spun the combination. No one minded him much as they seemed preoccupied with their own problems. He looked around and saw the house mother arguing with Kuroo while being handcuffed. Good that old Yankee-looking-ass Ukai deserved to rot in jail. An awkward wandering Bokuto caught Akaashi's eye as he handed out blankets and juice boxes to the still shocked strippers.

"He should have been surveying the rest of the club or watching the entrance," thought Akaashi."The dancers have seen their fair share of things, and have each other to rely on. I know that they are all so strong." The metal door made a click under Akaashi's hand, and he opened the door. Turning around, he motioned with two-fingers to Bokuto to come over to him.

"I hope you called for back up," he said as Bokuto made his way over.

Bokuto's hand moved as if to salute Akaashi, but he thought better of it, and quickly slapped his hand back to his side. "Yes, sir. A couple of cars are coming down."

"Great. Because we will need it. We can't leave them alone." Akaashi said nodding his head in the direction of the prostitutes. He reached his hand into the locker feeling along the back of the metal cubby. His hand brushed against a handle, and then he grasped it, turned, and pulled. The whole locker creaked as it swung outwards as if it was connected to a door. 

A gasp could be heard from the house mother. He was visibly shaking, "Keiji! How could you do this to us, you filthy, ugly, back-stabbing whore. Don't you dare take one step towards that room you imbecilic doe! You may have enough brains to call the boy toy police, but your decaying slut brain only knows about pleasure and crystal. You won't last a day without us. You clearly haven't thought this through " Bokuto shifted as if to shield Akaashi from the barrage of words the older man was throwing at him. Akaashi turned from the entrance he had just opened and lay his hand on Bokuto's arm, gesturing for him to stay where he was, as he brushed past him and made his way to the house mother.

"You were nothing, NOTHING before we took you in I can't believe that a little rut slut like yourself could betray-" Akaashi towered over Ukai who was on his knees and then bent to whisper something in his ear. Akaashi smiled politely at him, as Ukai's face changed from disgust to horror. Akaashi straightened up and picked his way carefully through the locker door into the yawning expanse of black without looking back, and Bokuto followed.

Akaashi moved as if had no need for light. The confidence in his steps was something Bokuto thought that he would never be able to achieve as he fumbled and floundered behind Akaashi. The light from the room they had left reflected just enough off Akaashi's loose white robe that Bokuto did not feel completely alone in the dark. The faint muttering from Akaashi subsided as he came to a halt in front of Bokuto. Bokuto realized that the man in front of him had been counting his steps. Akashi reached his hand up and pulled on something, and with a shudder, a single, exposed florescent light bulb lit up the circular chamber they were in. Bokuto recognized the shape of the room as the platform on which he saw the dancers perform when he first snuck into the strip club. They were under the stage.

The room was padded with black cushioning. There was a large, metal-framed four-poster bed filling one half in the room, and the other was filled with what looked like torture devices. The room was filled with the faint smell of blood, piss, sweat, and bleach as if someone thought wiping down the room with bleach would make it clean. Strapped to an X was a blonde girl, blindfolded, gagged, naked, and spread wide. She was thrashing around trying to get loose. Akaashi rushed to her side and lifted her blindfold and unclasped the gag.

"No! No no no no! Get away from me!" The girl yelled this thrashing around like a fish on the line.

"Shhhh, Yachi, it's me," Akaashi says reassuringly, "open your eyes, they're gone. Come on Yachi open your eyes". The girl cautiously opened one eye and then the other and quickly looked around the room. At the sight of Bokuto, her eyes quickly shut again. "Don't worry Yachi, he's with the police. You can open your eyes on your own time, but I need you to calm down so I can take you off this." The girl stilled, her eyes still shut. Bokuto was at a loss, not knowing what to do, afraid that his presence may scare the girl. "The police officer is going to come over and help me get you down, is that okay Yachi?" Akaashi was working and loosening her left hand. Yachi gave a small nod, and Bokuto made his way over, and carefully started to loosen the bond on the girl's right hand. He was careful to not touch the girl's skin in case she did not want to touch him. The two men worked methodically until Yachi was off the X, Akaashi steadying her as she slid off of it. "Yachi, I'm going to get you out of here. Do you think you can walk?" Akasshi asked moving away from her to give her some space, but Yachi clung to him shaking her head.

"I don't want to open my eyes until I am out of the room," she said in a small voice.

"Then can I carry you?" Akaashi asked gently. Yachi gave one firm nod as a reply and Akaashi took off his robe, and draped it over her, with one fluid motion he scooped her into his arms. "I told you I would get you out of here" Akaashi whispered down to her as they exited the room. "I don't make empty promises"

"Officer Bokuto, could you grab some blankets and a sweater? There should be a pile of extra sweaters by the water fountain. Can you also grab one of those orange juice boxes?" Akaashi asked as he set Yachi down in one of the armchairs in the changing room. Bokuto hurried away to fulfill Akaashi's request.

"Yachi, we are out of the dungeon, you can open your eyes whenever you are ready." Yachi's eyes fluttered open and focused on Akaashi's face before she looked around the rest of the room nervously. Most of the strippers were gathered in groups talking under their breaths, others were clustered around Kuroo asking him questions. "The house bitch is gone, Yachi, we're getting you guys out of here. I'm with the police, so know that I am looking out for everyone's best interest except for those perverted fuckers." Yachi's eyes found him again. "I'm going to need to ask you a couple of questions though Yachi. Is that okay?" Yachi nodded her head breaking eye contact with him and started playing with her fingers. "The only one missing is Kiyoko, do you know where she is. I was in my room for most of the night with a couple of customers, so I didn't get the chance to see a lot of people. I thought she would be in the dungeon when I couldn't find her out here."

"They took her out earlier in the evening." She replied biting her bottom lip

"Like out Out?" Akaashi furrowed his eyebrows. It was a Wednesday night, Kiyoko only went out on Fridays to Mondays to serve at other locations. Akaashi's wheels started turning. Had someone tipped off the people at the top. Kiyoko was a favorite of the people who ran the gang. Maybe they had pulled her out because they knew what he planned to do. Had they seen through him this whole time?

"Out Out. The black car came like it always does" Yachi replied.

Shit, They must have known that something was up. Akaashi passed his hand through his hair and sighed defeatedly. He straightened up. Just because he didn't get the result he wanted doesn't mean that the night was a total bust. He still got all of the people of this house out, and he had a lot of useful information. Hopefully enough information to bring the Karasuno Gang down.

Bokuto exited the strip club surprised he had not yet been lectured. It was his fault for this whole bust. He and Kuroo had been walking the block when he had heard some shouting. He ran off towards the noise, leaving Kuroo behind, and saw a small girl with orange hair being forcibly dragged into the strip club down the street. Instinct kicked in, and Bokuto ran down the street to the strip club. When he got to the door, he found it odd that there was no security, or anyone checking ID's by the door. However, saving that girl was the only thing on his mind. Disregarding the oddity, he walked in cautiously to a relatively empty strip club. There were a couple of patrons clustered around the stage, and there were a couple by the bar talking up the waitresses. Looking around he could not see the man who had dragged in the girl, but the motion of a door closing caught his eye, and he walked over nonchalantly, though nobody in the room was looking at him, and slipped in. From there he found a corridor of rooms where loud moans and panting echoed like it was a sounding chamber. He had immediately radioed for backup when he saw that all of the girls were chained to the wall of their individual rooms for he suspected there was some sort of human trafficking and prostitution ring going on. Most of the men in various stages of undress paled and ran out of the room, their pants still around their ankles when they saw Bokuto come in with his gun and flashlight raised. He had shot the chain off the first prostitute and then asked where the keys were before going room by room freeing the people in each room. Once freed, he had assured them that he was the police and that they were all safe now. Almost everyone had a similar reaction where they would stare at him in silence taking a few minutes to process what was going on, but then another prostitute would come in, and then there would be a burst of emotion as they guided them to the changing room. He did all this while radioing Kurro, giving him updates, and each time, the rooster like man would shout something back, but Bokuto was too preoccupied to listen properly. He had followed a girl in, hoping to save her from a predatory male, but here he was standing in the middle of something much worse.

"This is a situation which you only see on TV shows or books or something," he thought to himself. The last room was where Bokuto found the most stunning man he had ever seen. He was taken aback when he saw that the man was not chained, but was more taken aback by the glory of the man which almost made Bokuto drop his flashlight.

Now thinking back about his first encounter with Akaashi, Bokuto gave himself a light slap on the wrist telling himself, "you really shouldn't be sexualizing a man who had to sell himself for money. You have no right to do that. Not to mention that that man is now your partner." Bokuto shook himself as if to try and erase the memory of Akaashi's dimly lit, glossy skin or the way that he seemed to carry a presence of gentle authority. Bokuto had been curious about the room he heard Akaashi refer to as a dungeon. When he had asked about it, Akaashi brought him out of earshot of the other girls and had quietly told him that it was the room where "desperate and disgusting pigs" played out their BDSM, non-consequential fantasies of rape and torture. He had shown Bokuto the scar he had running from his inner thigh to his knee telling Bokuto how he had bled from that wound as the man had fucked him in the cut he had made.

This night had brought everything into focus for Bokuto. He hadn't done extraordinarily well during the practical and theoretical part of his time at the academy. However, the topics about prostitution, drug wars, human trafficking, and all that seemed to be elusive issues that he would never have to deal with. His sheltered time at the academy and tedious days of filing, sorting paperwork, and having race car contests around the block when he patrolled with Kuroo seemed to be a job that was very different from the one he had to do tonight. Bokuto sighed wondering if he had what it takes to become a police officer. He honestly still felt sick from what he encountered. But, he had always had the insistent need to do good. His brother had always said that Bokuto was painfully instinctively doing good wherever he went.

Bokuto rounded the corner and stopped in his tracks as his gaze fell upon Akaashi who was leaning against the building, smoking. The blue and red lights and smoke cast his face in such interesting shadows that Boukuto could not help but stare. 

"Officer Bokuto." Akaashi nodded, acknowledging his presence as he took a drag, "How do you think tonight went?"

Bokuto hung his head, "Um... I suppose not well because, because you know-" he didn't know how to finish off that sentence.

"you ruined my three-year mission" Akaashi supplied with no annoyance in his tone which surprised Bokuto.

"Yeah, that." They stood in a moment of silence. Akaashi let his cigarette slowly crumble to ash he took in the silver-haired man. 

"Don't beat yourself up about it." Akaashi cleared his throat and tapped his cigarette, ash cascading to the floor. He took another drag, and then opened his mouth letting out a flow of smoke which shrouded his face from Bokuto, "the day wasn't a total loss"

"What? But I-"

"You did good today Bokuto. I don't know many people who would enter a strip club in this area to make sure a girl is safe." Akaashi pushed off the wall and dropped his cigarette in the outdoor ashtray. He turned around to evaluate Bokuto one last time. The sight of the raven-haired man backlit by the police siren light stilled Bokuto's breath. Akaashi's eyes seemed to see everything, scanning him up and down as if he was hoping to find something he hadn't seen before. "See you around, Partner."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akaashi is finally back to the office for a psych evaluation. It has been a week since the events in chapter 1 have taken place, and Akaashi finds himself itching to get back to work.

"Akaashi, I can't advise that you return back to work in good conscious" Takeda sighed, tapping the papers on his desk to align them before placing them back into the Manila folder labeled with Akaashi's name. Akashi's grip on his glass tightened, fingerprints smudging on the glass. Takeda continued, "I advise taking that you take a break for a couple of months and have weekly sessions with me. Then we can do another psych evaluation to see if you're ready to return-"

"Mr. Takeda." Akaashi said forcefully cutting off the police physiologist for his precinct and set down his water glass. "I don't know how many times I need to state this. I am of sound mind, and I am perfectly capable of returning to my job. I assure you that I will be of no danger to myself or others should you choose to sign those papers" Akaashi cast a glance towards the Manila folder. Takeda's eyes nervously flicked back to it.

"Please, Mr. Takeda, I need to continue working on this case. It's the one thing that is keeping me grounded." Akaashi felt the panic set in, his throat felt like it was tightening, tension radiating from the base of his neck. He needed the case, He needed to put some of the gang behind bars. He needed to know that some of them would never walk the streets again. He held the gaze of the psychologist, and they sat there staring at each other. Takeda sighed, breaking their gaze, and pulled open the drawer to grab his stamp.

"Listen Akaashi, I can give you three months, but nothing more. I honestly think that you should take a nice long break, just to recuperate. You are very invested in this case, and I don't know if you would be the best person to-"

"NO I-"

"It's okay Akaashi, Like I said I will give you three months. If you are feeling overwhelmed or need any guidance, I'm here. Just give me a call." Takeda stamped Akaashi's documents, pausing to give them a minute to dry before slotting all the documents back into the manila folder. 

Akaashi felt the tension in his neck start to release. "Thank you Mr. Tadeka. Thank you. I'll wrap everything up in three months."

Takeda stood up, "Well then Akaashi, I will process this later today so, you have the rest of the day off. The file should be in the system by tomorrow as was planned" He extended his arm for a handshake and Akaashi shook it gratefully. 

"Shall I see you in three months?" Akaashi smiled, grabbing his trenchcoat from the chair next to him and folded it over his arm. The two of them headed to the door, the older man smiled and opened the door for Akaashi. 

"Are you saying that you won't see me around the office?" Takeda smiled as Akaashi walked past him. Akaashi laughed and headed down the hall to the elevator.

"Hey Akaashi," Akaashi turned around at the sound of his name, "you have my number, use it when you need it! If anything comes up during the three months, I am here." Takeda's smile had faded a bit, and he looked serious. Akaashi knew that the older man was worried for him. After everything he told the man during their sessions, Akaashi was surprised that the man hadn't swaddled him up like a baby and stashed him in a safe place. Akaashi smiled and reassured the man that he would contact him if he needed anything. He entered the elevator and pressed the button labeled 3. Even though he technically started work tomorrow, he could still head to his desk and sort everything out to make tomorrow the perfect first day back. He would need to log the names and little tidbits of information he had collected from his customers during the post-sex haze, for they often were a lot looser lipped. Alphabetical and colour-coordinated folders would suit the job perfectly.

The elevator dinged which startled Akaashi from his organization system thoughts. He looked up, wondering if he had already arrived at his floor, but he still had two floors to go. A short, orange hair man entered the elevator, flashing him with a pleasant smile before turning around to face the door. Akaashi could not help but size the man up. It was a habit that Kuroo constantly poked fun of, asking Akaashi to repeated his initial assessment of Kenma much to Kuroo's amusement. The man in the elevator with him was standing with most of his weight on the balls of his feet. His fingers were twitching as if they were used to constantly being in motion. He seemed like an animated talker, the kind of person who would constantly use elaborate hand gestures while speaking. Though he was small, his knees were slightly bent in his resting position as if he was ready to launch into action if he needed it. The man's eyes caught Akaashi's in the mirror, and the shorter man immediately seemed to spread his legs into a wider stance and bent his knees in anticipation. Anticipation for what? The door dinged and greeted Akaashi with the familiar setting of the bullpen. He murmured an apology to the man, as he stepped around him to leave the elevator. 

"Well, well, well, it looks like the Princess has returned" Kuroo grinned from his desk.  
  


"What a warm welcome Kuroo," Akaashi said dryly, opening the gate, and walking past his friend's desk.

"Oh come on Akaashi, you seem to think that I can throw elaborate parties with a snap of my fingers". Kuroo pushed off from his desk and rolled alongside Akaashi in his chair as Akaashi made his way to his desk.

"I seem to recall a banner unfurling with a snap of your fingers that read, "eat shit Kenma", when you made your 500th arrest and had a butler brought out a shit shaped cake while "I am the champion played". I think that party ended with Kenma shoving your face into the cake."

"That was such a long time ago Akaashi! Anyways, Kenma is the captain now, so there is no way I can have two confetti bombs go off in the middle of the bullpen to celebrate your return on a day which you were not even supposed to be in the office." The initial momentum Kuroo had from pushing off his desk had slowed, and he found himself needing to shuffle his legs furiously in order to keep up with Akaashi's pace.

Akaashi had arrived at his desk, and was surprised to find the desk clear, and that the box of his stuff which he had left in the storage room on the 4th floor was waiting for him on his desk. Kuroo drew himself up next to Akaashi's desk smirking. "Kenma told us that you were stopping by to meet with Takeda, and that you-"

"Akaashi." Ushijima interrupted. "Did you see where Takeda went? We were supposed to meet," he looked at his watch "49 seconds ago in the interrogation room. He is helping us with some strategies on interrogating the house mother". Straightforward as always. Akaashi had always appreciated how efficient Ushijima was. 

Kuroo, a bit peeved at being interrupted, jutted out his chin and asked,"How did you get from the interrogation room to here in 49 seconds? The interrogation room is like 2 floors up? Did you find a way to teleport or something? Are you actually a-"

"Tendo is in the interrogation room and sent me a text saying that Takeda had not arrived yet. He also wanted to give Akaashi his thanks for the temporary desk switch. He mentioned that your desk had quite the view." Ah yes, when Akaashi was packing up to leave, Tendo had approached him, asking for his desk because of the clear line of sight it had to Ushijima's desk.

"Takeda must have taken the stairs. He wasn't going in the same direction as me when I was heading to the elevator."

"Thank you. That is all I have come here to do. It is good to see that you are back Akaashi, I look forward to working with you again." Ushijima lumbered away, heading to the elevator.

"I never get a, 'I look forward to working with you again'" Kuroo harumphed.

Akaashi draped his trenchcoat over the back of his chair. "That because every time someone works with you, they hope it's the last time they have to do so."

"Sure, sure Akaashi. We all know that I'm your favorite detective to pair up with. Anyways, back to what I was saying before Ushijima interrupted me, Kenma told us that you were dropping by for a psych. eval. with Takeda. He said that you would probably want to come in, and get a jump on your work, so Bo and I pulled your stuff from storage."

Akaashi smiled. He truly was glad to be back. He was so happy to have friends like this. "Kuroo, that is surprisingly sweet I-"

_**BAM.POOF.** _

Akaashi's hand immediately went to his belt, his hand finding the familiar handle of the knife he kept strapped there. Two round globes were lowered into the room, and then they had split open spilling confetti out everywhere.

"KUROO!" The shout erupted from the Captain's office, and following the sound of some shuffling and angry stomping, the door flew open, and an angry-looking Kenma stormed out.

"Lev!" Kuroo yelped, and a long gangly silver-haired man sitting beside Kenma's office stood up, and approached Kenma from behind, scooping him up, and held him off the floor his armpits.

"YOU BETTER CLEAN THIS UP KUROO. AND YOU TOO LEV!"Kenma was squirming in Lev's grasp, and finally, when he stopped wriggling, Lev set him down. "Yaku, the brooms." In a flash, the short brunette had apparated next to Kenma with two brooms in hand. He threw one in Kuroo's direction which was a bit too short and Kuroo had to scramble ungracefully forward to grab it. With the other, he gave a hearty smack to the back of Lev's legs, and the tall man almost buckled. Yaku was one of the best assistants Akaashi had the pleasure to work with. He had heard that Yaku had been promoted to being specifically Kenma's assistant, yet, he also seemed to have taken a mentorship role with Lev, who Akaashi presumed was the new floor's assistant. While Kuroo and Lev swept up the mess under Yaku's keen eye, Kenma turned to Akaashi, and motioned for the taller man to follow him into his office.

Akaashi had always wanted to kick Kenma out of his office and spend the day organizing it. The sheer amount of things on Kenma's desk and the floor, and every surface which was flat enough to pile things was crowded. Paired with the fact that Kenma liked to work in the dark made it hard for Akaashi to see him when he sat down behind his desk. 

"Take a seat... anywhere you can find a place to sit." Akaashi looked around and decided to perch himself upon the arm of the armchair across the desk from Kenma.

“Thanks Kenma” Akaashi sat up straighter so that he could peer at the hunched man behind the piles of work and junk on his desk. His roots have grown out, and his eyes seemed sunken. He was squinting at his computer screen, fiddling with the trackpad.

“You should get blue light glasses Kenma.”

“You know that those don’t work Akaashi. There was an article that debunked them.”

“Well, I suppose it was a matter of placebo, and a reminder to not constantly stare at your screen in the dark" 

Kenma sighed, and closed his laptop, shifting his focus to Akaashi. They both took their time taking the other in.

"You don't look like you are doing too well" The both of them concluded about the other. Akaashi chuckled, and Kenma bit his lip trying to contain his smile. 

"Akaashi, I don't know how I feel about you working this case." Akaashi opened his mouth to protest, but Kenma continued, "They clearly did some fucked up shit to you in there. Do you really think it's best to be constantly reminded of them? The case isn't easy and you know this, and I don't want to do anything which might damage your mental health. I can have you work some easy cases if you feel like you need to work, but I can also give you paid leave if you need it."

Akaashi fought to keep control of his hands, but he found his thumb was tucked under his pointer finger and was already unconsciously massaging the fleshy part of his middle finger, an old habit that soothed him. "Kenma, I don't think I can rest till I get some of those pretentious bastards are behind bars. They knew. They knew that something was going to go down that night. I can't let them beat me. They won't beat me."

"Well, if that's what you want Akaashi, I'm not going to fight you on this. Oikawa and Iwaizumi are in some hot water because of the mission's ..." He wanted to use the word "failure", but he didn't want the man in front of him to think that his three years undercover in that horrible prostitution ring was for nothing. "didn't go the way that they expected it to go. I'm sure you won't want to see their faces either especially since the whole undercover mission was their idea. You'll have to continue working with them because they are the federal agents assigned to this case. That's just one other reason for you to take a break."

Akaashi ground his teeth. Yes, Oikawa and Iwaizumi had approached him, asking for his help to bring down the Karasuno gang. Three years ago, at the annual new year's party which his precinct threw at their usual bar, Oikawa and Iwaizumi took the opportunity to approach him.

_Akaashi had thought it was weird that some of the FBI agents were hanging at the bar at which the police always hung out. He recognized Oikawa, for pretty much everyone had heard of the federal agent who had a God-complex. He had assumed that the FBI did not want to fraternize with the "lowly police force", and was surprised that they were there. No matter, he stood by the bar watching Kuroo try to convince Kenma to sing karaoke with him._

_"Hey pretty boy," A man with spikey brown hair had sidled up to him, "what are you drinking?"_

_"I'm not quite sure that is any of your business." Akaashi had downed his drink and set it down at the bar, and prepared to move away. But, the man had grabbed him by his wrist which had surprised him._

_"I'm sorry, I can't have you walking away from me. We haven't even introduced ourselves. I'm Tooru Oikawa, and that man glowering over there is my partner, Hajime Iwaizumi." Iwaizumi gave a nod._

_"And I'm, not interested." Akaashi broke out of Oikawa's grasp and turned away from the two men._

_"I know that you have been looking into the Karasuno gang," Oikawa said in a sing-song voice._

_Akaashi slowed and turned around. "A_ n _d wh_ _at_ _about it?"_

_"Oooooh Iwa, we got him. Hook, line, and sinker."_

_"Just tell him why we approached him Oikawa. We are just dragging this out." Iwa grunts. "Akaashi, we wanted to know-"_

_"If you were interested in doing an undercover mission to bring down the prostitution ring." Oikawa cut in."Sorry Iwa, I wanted to break the news! I'm sure you've gathered enough information to know that the ring operates mainly out of their Strip Club on the East Side, and if we could take that down, that would be a huge win in our books. The Club is how Karasuno brings in most of its profit."_

_Akaashi narrowed his eyes, "Undercover? What would I be doing?". Oikawa was surprisingly quiet, so Akaashi shifted his gaze to Iwaizumi._

_"We need someone on the inside."_

_"And when you say inside, you mean..." Akaashi raised his eyebrows_

_"A prostitute. We need someone to be a prostitute." Oikawa jumped in with a surprisingly serious look on his face._

Kenma continued, "Akaashi, I don't know what you and Takeda talked about, and I don't need to know, but if you are feeling overwhelmed, lean on your squad a little bit. Most of us have worked alongside you for many years, and we know how you get in your head. We want to see Karasuno behind bars as much as you do. You know that the chaos they have been havocing on the streets have not made any of us fans of them."

"Thanks, Kenma. But you should really take your own advice. Lean on your detectives a bit more. We both know what a doofus Kuroo can be, but we can't deny the facts. He's the number one detective in the precinct. And that new Lev guy does not seem too bad."

Kenma rolled his eyes. "Both of them are awful. Sometimes I wonder if they share their one and only brain cell and pass it back and forth. And that new detective Bokuto isn't much better."

Akaashi thought back to Bokuto. He knew he had the right to be upset with the man, but he didn't know how productive his feelings of resentment would be considering he had only three months to bring Karasuno down, "As long as they don't get in the way of my work, I don't think they would be too bad to work with." 

"Well, we'll see what you think after tomorrow"

A knock sounded while Lev popped his head into the office. Kenma closed his eyes and clenched his fists inhaling before he opened his eyes while exhaling and unclenching his hands. "Lev, what is the point of knocking if you are knocking while entering. A person knocks to inform the person inside the room that a person wants to enter. What if we were having a private conversation, or we were in a comproming position."

"Compromising position, eh?" Kuroo, opened the door wider stepping past Lev to enter the room. "Now what would you or Akaashi be doing in a compromising situation?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter Detective Kuroo. Akaashi just came off an undercover mission where he infiltrated a gang, nothing good will happen if they find out he is a rat or that he screwed them over. I don't want to put Akaashi in any compromising positions, and having an uninvited person enter my room with Akaashi's back to them is a rather compromising position wouldn't you say so?"

"Well, I can think of a few more compromising positions I would like to see-"

"KUROO!" Another man came bounding into the room. His button-up had small owls printed on it and was buttoned wrong, which made the fabric bulge and crease in a way which Akaashi just wanted to undo it and smooth out. "I can't believe how dusty it is in the ceiling. I got my shirt all dirty! I wouldn't have known what to do if I didn't have this extra shirt in my locker!"

"Well Bo, It would been a great excuse to go digging in the lost and found. I found this really cool motorcycle jacket in there once! It had a rip in it with some dried blood around it, but I feel like that stab hole gives the jacket some character"

"WOAH! THAT'S SO COOL! Do you think I can find something just like-"

"May I ask why are we having this conversation in my office?" Kenma didn't raise his voice, but the sound of his voice had sent chills through everyone in the room. "I remember only inviting Akaashi inside, and we were having a wonderful conversation until we were interrupted. May I ask why we were interrupted." He looked straight at Lev, who nervously checked his hand and said, "Um, it says here that you have a meating with Lutienet Sugawara, but I don't know what you would be doing sampling meats in your office with-"

"Kenma, I'm sorry I'm late, I dropped in to see how Tendo and Ushijima were doing with the interrogation and-. Oh wow, it's a full house in here." A silver-haired man with a mole under his left eye burst into the room. He looked around the room taking in the scene of Kenma lecturing Bokuto, Kuroo, and Lev. "Ah, Akaashi! Welcome back. It's good to see you in the office again."

"Likewise Sugawara. I look forward to catching up with you."

"Well, I suppose I'll have to ask you all to leave because I have a meeting with Kenma. Oh Kenma, don't give me that look. You can give everyone a speech about your personal space and how they should respect it tomorrow morning in the brief. Now out all of you." Sugawara winked at Kuroo, and Kuroo, Bokuto, and Lev slipped out without any further prompting. 

Akaashi stood up, "Good luck finding somewhere to sit. Now if Kenma did let me have a go at organizing his office-"

"We can revisit that at another time Akaashi." Kenma dismissed the idea as he always had. He like having his office a certain way, and no matter the assurances Akaashi gave of creating an office with a good workflow that would fit his style, he kept his office as it was.

"Kenma, you should take him up on his offer. Akaashi once gave me this amazing desk organizer and it changed my life." Sugawara laughed moving into the office, picking up the stack of papers in the armchair and placing them on the ground. "Oh, and Akaashi?"

Akaashi looked back over his shoulder. 

"Treat your new partner well. I know that he may seem like a lot sometimes, but I thought the two of you would make a great pair. I wouldn't pair you with someone who would get in your way." Kenma had opened his computer, and the blue light highlighted the edge of Sugawara's face making him seem more sinister than the friendly man normally was. 

Akasshi shivered, but he didn't know why. "I managed with Kuroo as a partner for many years. I think I can manage another child-like detective." He smiled, and Sugawara laughed.

"Kuroo, Kuroo, Kuroo! I like knew Akaashi would be back in the office today, but I didn't know he would be out of uniform. Can we do that? Do we have to wear the button-down and the tie and the everything?" Bokuto was hiding behind a stack of paper on Kuroo's desk so he could check out his new partner. Ever since the night Bokuto had ruined everything, he moped around for a while, Kuroo often finding him under his desk, or crouched in his chair in the corner of the room. Kuroo had spent a week trying to pick Bokuto's mood up by telling him stories about himself and Akaashi in hopes of proving what a forgiving man Akaashi was. Those stories had brightened up the owl-like man, his head seemed to slowly jolting and turn 180 degrees towards Kuroo whenever he heard those stories. Once Kuroo had his attention he could lure Bokuto away from the floor or wall with food or other enticing things.

Bokuto could not peel his eyes off of Akaashi who was seated at his desk, the sleeves of his knitted turtle neck rolled up to his elbows, exposing his delicate forearms. The raven-haired man had donned his glasses and was busy writing on label stickers.

"Did you know he wears glasses? He wasn't wearing them last time. I think they frame his face rather nicely. You know like frame, like glasses. Like glasses have frames in them. Like, that was a pun"

Kuroo forced out a laugh and wondered if he had told this man one too many stories about Akaashi. He seemed to have built Akaashi as this loving Lady Mary figure who also could kick ass and arrest perps. "Listen Bo, hiding at my desk, and whispering observations about Akaashi is not going to get you anywhere. Personally or professionally. There is a huge stack of processing papers you have to go through. Sit down at your desk, and start doing work."

"But my desk is connected to Akaashi's! I thought Tendo was going to stay at the desk facing mine and we could keep whispering about the workout routines Ushijima and I do! You know, Tendo gave me this really good recipe that was full of protein and low on carbs, and so I had to share it with Ushijima, cause we are, you know, gym bros. Anyways, I can't very well stare at him from across our desks! It'll be soooooo obvious!"

"Well Bokuto, I can tell you this. Akaashi really appreciated people who do their work. He likes Ushijima for being super efficient and straight to the point. He also-" But Bokuto was already heading back to his desk before Kuroo could finish.

"Well," he thought to himself, "Kenma is going to be happy with the amount of work that gets done today"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, I know that everyone deals with trauma in their own way... I'm not suggesting that you should throw yourself into work if you have experienced a traumatic event like Akaashi is clearly intending to in this fic. I really don't know if it will help you or not. Just say safe out there, and I hope you will find people who you can trust and who will help you through it (no matter what the it maybe) and stick by your side.


	3. Cha[ter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Akaashi's first day back in the office, and it is not easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: suicide, prostitution, disassociation.

Akaashi's morning of his first day back had been productive. He looked around at the piles of paper surrounding him, crowding his desk space. They formed a paper cubicle around him, shielding him from everything that was happening in the bullpen. He had seen Kuroo's mass of hair, and Lev's head bobbing along as their heads protruded over the top of the pile. He had imputed all the information he had on his previous customers and people he knew were associated with the Strip Club into the database, and then printed all of their files. Lev had gone back and forth from Akaashi's desk to deliver the pages individually until Yaku yelled at him to use his brain, and Sugawara tried to diffuse the situation which resulted in Akaashi's documents being brought to him in stacks apropos of Suga's suggestions. He had gone through half of the stack, sorting and labeling people's files according to their prevalence in the gang.

But now it was 12:09, and the sounds of zippers and the clunking whirr of the microwave could be heard. The morning had felt so long that Akaashi wished he could take a longer break than the 30 minutes he allotted himself for lunch, but he knew that he wouldn't get through his paperwork if he did. The face of Ryunosuke Tanaka was now at the top of the pile. Akaashi had seen his shaven head enter Kiyoko's room numerous times. By the authoritative tone he had when speaking to the other people in the club, Akaashi knew that he must have been associated with the Karasuno gang. Upon pulling up Tanaka's file, Akaashi confirmed his theory. The man and another named Nishinoya had been reported causing ruckuses numerous times around the city. Yet they have always managed to evade being arrested, and when they were, they were always let out on bail by a man who signed the release papers as Mura.

Akasshi sighed and leaned back in his chair. He felt a fog start to creep into his head. Akaashi's nose seemed to unconsciously single out the smell of a Bath and Bodywork soap in the air. Someone must have used the Cranberry Peach soap or a product from that line. Ukai had bought that scent in hopes of making all the prostitutes smell like "something other than your desperation and tears". Akaashi felt incapacitated, and his left thumb found its familiar spot underneath the index and was already stroking the fleshy part of his middle finger in a slow and repetitive motion. He could already feel himself fading, trying to combat his memories at the strip club. His vision tunneled in on a sticky note he had stuck on the corner of his monitor, and as his eyes skipped over the words written on it, hovered in the negative space left at the bottom of the note. His consciousness ebbed and flowed, and his body stilled, neither tense nor relaxed, just stationary. He stayed like that for a while. His brain had picked up the sound of footsteps, and the rustle of papers behind him, but it took a few seconds, and a couple of slow blinks before Akaashi was reminded of the physical world he was in. The world seemed to swhoosh back into focus as his eyes darted away from the sticky note. He peeled the sticky note off his monitor, and instead lay it on top of Tanaka's file, sticking it underneath the crook's blurry photo. He didn't have time to be distracted today. He needed to figure out why he was lying like a sitting duck at the club. He needed to figure out how the plan had been leaked. Akaashi turned around to see the person who had broken him out of disassociation. Bokuto was standing there, looking hesitant, holding a brown bag.

"What can I do for you?" Akaashi asked initiating the conversation as the older man did not seem eager to jump into whatever it was he wanted to say.

"Well I um-, I just-, I just wanted to check in on you Akaashi," the man rocked to the balls of his feet, then back to his heels, then back to the balls of his feet, "You have so much paperwork on your desk, I can hardly see you over it when I'm sitting down on my side of the desk... And it is lunchtime, so I was wondering if you maybe wanted to eat lunch with me." The rocking continued but winded down as the man finished his sentence. Akaashi threw a glance down to his watch and noted that it was now 12:20.

"That sounds good Bokuto, I'm just going to grab my stuff from the fridge," Akaashi said standing up and tucking his chair in. He set a 25-minute timer on his watch so he would know when to start packing up, and then looked up at Bokuto who had cheered up. His shoulders were back and a wide smile was plastered on his face.

"What's got you so happy? Had a breakthrough on a case?" Akaashi asked as they made their way over to the kitchenette next to the copy room, Akaashi in the lead.

"It's nothing Akaashi, I'm just excited to get to know my partner a little better" Bokuto hummed.

"I'm sorry I haven't been with you for most of the morning. I know that we won't be working on every case together, and I'm pretty busy wrapping one up right now, but if you do need help with anything, you can ask me." It was true, Akaashi had ignored everything except his paperwork on the gang this morning, and didn't even look up when Kenma lost his cool over Lev again. Kuroo managed to deal with the situation, slipping into the role of authority with ease. But Akaashi also felt a little guilty because he didn't know how much of his time he would be able to devote to helping out his new partner. Akaashi had looked at Bokuto's file the other night and was surprised to see that he graduated from the academy a year ago. To make it to a detective position in a year was surprising and hadn't been done by many, and only by those who had graduated at the top of their class. The only other detectives Akaashi knew of who got the promotion that fast was Sugawara and Ushijima. Bokuto must have proved himself a capable officer, and Akaashi was sure that the man was clamoring for a way to prove himself as a detective. He didn't know how much time he could give his new partner especially when he was planning on spending most of his time trying to figure out how to get Karasuno members behind bars.

"Don't apologize Akaashi, if anything I'm looking forward to hopefully spending more time with you!" They had reached the kitchenette, and Bokuto reached around Akaashi to pull the door open for him, causing Akaashi to take a step back into Bokuto's personal space.

"Oh I'm-"

"Oh-"

Akaashi tilted his head back to look up at the man who seemed flushed. Bokuto looked down to meet Akaashi's eyes, and when they met, Bokuto's eyes flitted away, and it wasn't until Akaashi stepped away and into the room, that Bokuto felt like he could breathe. 

  
Akaashi had grabbed his lunch, and he and Bokuto had decided to eat in the break room. Akaashi's lunch was pleasant enough, and Bokuto was not a bad conversation partner. Bokuto had been excitedly rambling about the current case he and Kuroo were puzzling over, pausing at points as if he was waiting for Akaashi's opinion or reaction. It was nice to have someone take the time to care about his opinion. Akaashi had always been exhausted when he had to play at niceties, smiling and nodding at people while masking his true thoughts, but Bokuto didn't want Akaashi to appease him. Bokuto wanted to get Akaashi's real opinions on the matter.

"I just can't believe that the jury voted innocent!" Bokuto exclaimed, chasing a rolling blueberry across his plate with his fork.

"Nothing much you can do about a jury's decision" Akaashi shrugged, "You did a good-"

"No, Akaashi, don't say I did a good job. If I had taken more care at the crime scene, I am sure I could have found more incriminating evidence!" Bokuto finally managed to stab the blueberry and brought it up to his lips sighing discontentedly.

Akaashi studied the man sitting across from him. He had skimmed over the court transcript when sorting through files and trials that potential members of Karasuno Gang. The person who was being tried was a man named Ennoshita. Though Akaashi could only find a very weak paper trail linking the man to the gang, the police station had gotten tips of Ennoshita being an enforcer out on the streets making sure that people were paying their dues. Kuroo and Bokuto had arrested him on drug possession charges as they found him in a back alleyway making a trade, but they couldn't pin him down for anything more. Akaashi would have thought that Bokuto would want someone to stroke his ego, and make him feel better, telling him that " _it's okay, there is always next time_ ," or " _you did your best, there was nothing more that you could do_." But as Akaashi took in the man across from him, he knew that fake attempts to making the dual-toned-haired man were not what was needed. Akaashi's lips widened into a small smile.

"Well, Bokuto, you're right, there is a lot of things you could have done. From little things like checking out what kind of shoes Ennoshita was wearing to big picture stuff like using different interrogation methods or doing a sweep of the man's car"

"OH, HIS CAR! I didn't even think about searching his car!" The Bokuto waved his fork around enthusiastically. 

"I'm surprised Kuroo didn't bring it up either." Akaashi picked up his napkin, wiping his fingers. "Seems like the number one star in the precinct isn't doing too hot at the moment"

"Akaashi, you're so smart! I can't wait till I work a case with you!" Bokuto was staring at Akaashi with wonderment in his eyes. Akaashi could not help but chuckle.

"Thank you Boku-OHMYGOD!" Akaashi looked out the window of the breakroom and saw that the bullpen was full of people dressed as clowns. Some of them had on white face paint, other had star and tear designs painted on their face, some had on rainbow wigs, and others were bald, but they all had on a large red ball as a nose. "What- what is going on?" Akaashi exclaimed rushing to the door. He jiggled the handle, but it would not budge.

Bokuto and Akaashi were glued to the window in the door, bodies pressed up against it. The sheer amount of clowns in the office was simply chaos, and Akaashi had no idea what they were doing in the office. The clowns had obstructed their vision of the Bullpen, leaving Akaashi and Bokuto clueless to what was going on out there. 

_"This must be some sort of distraction..."_ Akaashi thought to himself, finding himself having to talk Bokuto out of smashing through the breakroom window. Akaashi pulled out his phone and dialed Goshiki.

The phone rang once before his call was picked up.

"Akaashi! You're back in the office!? I didn't know that you were back yet? How are you?"

"Yes, yes, it's nice to talk to you again," Akaashi said dismissively. He would have time to catch up with Ushijima's fan at some other point. Goshiki had approached him at the bar which the detectives had always hung out at to learn more about Ushijima."Goshiki this is important, is anything fishy happening on your floor?"

"Oh, the whole floor is out on some sort of team-building, morale-boosting lunch right now. Why is something up?"

"Well... something is definitely up." The clowns were still meandering their way through the bullpen. _"Where is everyone else?"_ Akaashi wondered gritting his teeth. He looked up and caught Bokuto's eye. The owl-like man gave him a look which seemed to communicate confusion and mild admiration, and Akaashi was tempted to laugh at the child-like wonder which he could see in the man's gaze. It wasn't every day on the job that 50 clowns coordinated a flashmob and walk through the office. Although this feat was rather impressive if one enjoys clowns and the futility of life, this would find this rather enjoyable. Akaashi immediately swiveled to look back out the window to try and contain his laughter ."I'll call you back in a bit Goshiki."

"Okay, but can we go out to lunch because I need to tell someone about the cutest thing Ushi-" Akaashi hung up, not needing to hear Goshiki's latest obsessive fact about Ushijima. "Bokuto do you have your phone?" Bokuto was staring out the window but nodded slightly as if he only vaguely heard what Akaashi was saying. Akaashi reached out and lay two fingers on Bokuto's wrist which made Bokuto jerk back from the window and look at him. "Bokuto, I'm going to need you to call Kuroo. Can you do that for me?"

"Kuroo- Yeah- yeah I have his number. I can do it. Leave it to me Akaashi!" Bokuto fumbled for his phone while Akaashi pulled out his to call Kenma.

When Kemna picked up, all Akaashi could hear was some fumbling before Lev's voice answered, "Hello, this is Captain Kenma Kozume's personal number, what can I do-"

"LEV! HOW DID YOU GET MY PERSONAL PHONE! GIVE IT BACK! YOU ONLY NEED TO ANSWER MY DESK PHONE" Akaashi could hear the grapple Kenma and Lev were no doubt are having over the phone. "Yaku, grab him!"

"Noooooo! Yaku, you traitor, you told me that it's my job to answer Kenma's phone"

"Not his personal cellphone you idiot"

_Thwack_

"Hello, 'Kaashi?"

Akaashi chose to ignore the fact that someone had definitely smacked Lev hard enough so he would buckle, and they could reach the phone in his hand. "Kenma, you see what's happening in the bullpen?"

"Ya, do you think it could be one of Kuroo's dumb pranks?"

"I don't know if Kuroo would pull off something like this. We all know that he is terrified of clowns"

"BOKUTO! THANK HEAVENS YOU CALLED! ARE THE CLOWNS GONE YET? WHEN THEY STARTED TO COME IN, I RAN TO THE BATHROOM AND LOCKED MYSELF IN A STALL. IS IT SAFE TO COME OUT?!?" Kuroo's voice practically lept from Bokuto's phone.

"Well, I think that answers that question" Akaashi mutter under his breath as Bokuto tried to reassure Kuroo. "Kenma, Bokuto, and I are locked in the breakroom, where are you?"

"Lev, Yaku, and I are locked in my office. Akaashi, all of our doors had locks on the inside. Why have the handles been switched?" Akaashi realized Kenma was right. The doors had always locked from the inside, but someone must have replaced all the handles for the doors to make them lock from the outside. This was an orchestrated event that clearly took a lot of planning. This must have been thought out months in advance, and Akaashi needed to try to get as far ahead of the plan as possible

"Kenma. Can you issue a lockdown? " Akaashi asked urgently, "We need to figure this all out. Something is going on, and I don't think it's anything good. Make sure no one can leave or enter the building. We need to try and get to the bottom of this."

"I'm on it 'Kaashi. I'll also call the janitorial team and ask about the handles. Tell Kuroo to get his ass out of the bathroom, so he can get us out of here." Kenma slipping into his Captain mode. "I don't care if he needs to blindfold himself to get through that sea of clowns, but we need to get out there to establish some sort of order." Akaashi cast a glace at Bokuto who was hunched over his phone whispering encouragement to Kuroo.

"Well," Akaashi thought to himself as Kenma hung up on him, "Kuroo is going to need to pull on his big boy pants for this."

  
By the time Kuroo had made his way (blindfolded of course so he would not see the clowns) to their doors to unlock them, with his phone on speaker mode in his back pocket so that Bokuto could direct him ("Turn 90 degrees to the left, three-step forwards, slide to the left, slide to the right, criss-cross, everybody clap your hands."), Kenma had already had the building on lockdown so no one could come in or out. Akaashi hoped that the uniformed officers were taking their time at their morale-boosting lunch because he did not want to hear their complaints about being locked out of the building.

Yaku had quickly directed all of the clowns to a holding cell so that they could be brought one by one to the interrogation room. Everyone had questions they wanted to ask the clowns, though Kuroo's questions were the least useful (as he asked how the clowns could face themselves in the mirror when they were in gear, and if they thought the movie _Joker_ , was a good representation of the clown community). Sugawara, who had been in a therapy session when the lockdown hit (which disabling the elevators), had made his way down the stairs and had located Ushijima and Tendo, let them off the balcony they were locked on, as they had decided to eat lunch outside.

Akaashi went straight to his desk and noticed that there was a noticeable amount of documents missing. He sorted through his files, trying to figure out which ones were gone, realizing with a sinking heart that it was most of the files that were connected to the Karasuno gang. Akashi searched his computer to see if there was a backup of those files, but those were gone as well. Years of collections and notes concerning Karasuno were wiped.

This was very clearly orchestrated by Karasuno, and Akaashi would get his hands on the person who did this. He shivered. Akaashi had thought that once being free from the strip club, he would be no longer be under the control of the gang. Yet here he was dancing in the palm of Karasuno's hand once again. He felt sick, nausea crashing over him, but he pulled himself together, rationalizing that he needed to focus on getting as much information as possible to crack this joke of a case.

Akaashi finished interviewing Clown numbered 27th, throwing that clown's file down onto the stack of clown interviews the rest of the detectives had done. They had gone through each of the clowns, but they all pleaded the fifth, and the only thing that any of the detectives could try to nail them for was obstruction of justice. None of the files which were missing forms Akaashi's desk could not be found on any of the clowns.

Tendo had taken the responsibility of combing out the other floors to see if anything was suspicious because, as he claimed, he knew all the hiding spots in the building, and he was good at sniffing out secrets. Before leaving to do the site search, Tendo had remarked on his lunch with Ushijima outside, and how he had told Ushijima he had always wanted to try window cleaning dressed as a superhero, attached to the roof via a pulley system. But Akaashi had tuned the red-head out, as he was sorting through some paperwork. Ushijima, who was combing through surveillance footage, called Akaashi over to his desk before nodding at Tendo who had then run off to do the search. 

"Look Akaashi, I was looking into footage in Ukai's holding cell, and he left for the bathroom at 12:13, and he didn't come back until 12:45, which is over 12 minutes over the average amount of time a person spends in a bathroom daily. But that's not the only thing. The guy who came back into the cell has a decidedly thinner build than Ukai, and I suspect that that in fact is not Ukai. I texted Tendo, and he should be checking the cell right now. But if what I suspect is true, then somehow Ukai escaped." Ushijima looked up, but all Akaashi focus on the security tapes, watching Ukai move down the hall to the bathroom. There must have been a switch in the bathroom where the imposter Ukai had been waiting.

"I'm heading to that bathroom," Akaashi muttered under his breath, turning away from the computer. "Good find Ushijima," he called over his shoulder before moving to the stairwell.

"Ohhh I'll come too. I didn't actually get to go when I was hiding. You know, too stressed to pee or something." Kuroo fell into step behind Akaashi. They took the stairs up to the fifth floor to check out the bathroom which Ukai disappeared in. The security tape showed that only the Ukai imposter exiting the bathroom, so Ukai was either still in that bathroom, or that bathroom was the last know location of the house mother. They made it to the fifth floor, passing the holding cell where Tendo was staring threateningly at the fake Ukai, fingers twitching. Tendo and Ushijima's radio game could not be underestimated seeing how fast Tendo had gotten into the cell.

"You're coming to the fifth floor with me to just go to the bathroom?" Akaashi asked as he pushes open the door to the washroom. "Those clowns must have really scared the piss out of you. If you can't enter the bathroom on our own floor without thinking about them."

Kuroo simply grumbled and headed for the urinals as Akaashi checked each stall, hand on the familiar grip of his knife. He knew realistically, a knife would not do much against a fight if Ukai had gotten his hands on a gun. Akaashi's own gun was still sitting in a drawer in his desk. When he collected his gun and badge, the weight of the Glock was not something he was used to anymore. He kept his gun in his desk as he knew he would probably be facing very little action in the field for the next three months, and he knew that everyone would try to keep him on paperwork. Approaching and entering each stall was a nerve-wracking experience, and if a soundtrack were to be playing, there would be a crescendo each time Akasshi would creep towards a new stall, only to have an unresolved ending as the stall proved to be empty. Though there was no soundtrack, the tune which Kuroo was humming while pissing could have been mistaken for a badly crafted underscore. 

The whole bathroom was clear, and there seemed to be no evidence showing that Ukai had been in the bathroom. But wait, Akaashi sniffed the air. Though the bathrooms in the precinct were kept rather clean, there was a faint whiff of smoke and Cranberry Peach. Akaashi's head swum as he swept the room trying to find some evidence of cigarettes. He knew that Ukai had been in the bathroom. If the smell of cigarettes had not been enough of a tip-off, as there was no smoking allowed in the building, the smell of that Bath and Bodyworks brand cemented the fact that he had been here. 

By the window, Akaashi noticed a small pile of ash which immediately piqued his interest. He approached the window, cautiously, and noticed that the screen over the window was slightly askew. Akaashi reached to touch the screen and found that it was simply propped against the window to give the illusion that it was still in place as if someone had repositioned the screen from outside and was unable to pop it back into the frame. The window must have been how Ukai escaped. But it was the fifth floor, and though it would not be a fatal fall from the fifth floor, it would still be a pretty painful one. Akaashi knew that the house mother would never throw himself out the window knowing the odds of receiving an injury, so how did he escape?

Akaashi's ear picked up the faint sound of metal creaking, and he climbed up onto the window ledge.

"Woah, Woah, Woah, Akaashi, slow down there." Kuroo ran over to the window ledge, and Akaashi felt the secure grip of hands encircling his waist.

"Kuroo, pull up your fly before you come one hair closer," Akaashi grumbled, "I just need to see what is making all that sound." Kuroo's grip loosened just a touch as Akaashi wiggled around to face him. "If you're going to crowd me, then support me as I lean out to see what's up there." 

Kuroo sighed, blowing his hair out of his bangs. "Fine, but let me zip up my pants first, and then I'll help you. But promise me this. Let's not let Kenma know about this whole fly down situation." He backed off of Akaashi, looking down, and Akaashi caught the concerned look in his eyes. It was clear to him that Kuroo had been worried that he wanted to jump out the window. Akaashi didn't know what to feel. All his friends were tiptoeing around him, anxiously watching him, making sure he was okay. He ran a hand through his hair frowning. He didn't think he was okay, but he could certainly keep it together long enough to pin a couple of those damn annoying members behind bars. Akaashi could feel Kuroo move, and quickly dropped his hand, and plastered a small smile on his face.

"This incident isn't something that I can not tell Kenma about. I mean, hugging me with your fly down. It's like you're expecting something from me. Kenma would probably beat your ass over it." Akaashi teased, as he scooted further into the window, Kuroo holding onto his feet, anchoring him inside the bathroom. Akaashi slowly leaned backward sticking his head out the window. He blinked a few times, trying to adjust to the bright sun. Hanging at the top of the building was a suspended platform. 

"Hey Kuroo, is there any reason that a suspended platform is hanging outside today? Are the window cleaners scheduled for today?" Akaashi slowly sat up, looking Kuroo in the eyes as the rooster-haired man's eyes widened. A hollow feeling flooded's Akaashi's chest, his eyes began to dim. Distantly he could feel someone's arms encircle him, and pick him up, carrying him away from the window. Although his mind was already beginning to wonder, he found himself muttering, "He's gone, he's gone, he's gone." The quiet shushing, and light vibrations from Kuroo's chest as he made the comforting sounds was the only thing he could take in. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this Fan Fic. This idea was gnawing away at my brain, and I simply had to write it. Now that it is out, I can't guarantee updates as I love to procrastinate on everything (I wrote this so I wouldn't have to write my essays for my classes), but I would love to try and continue the story!


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